aye

See also: Aye and ayé

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English aye, ai, aȝȝ, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiwō (“ever, always”) (compare Old English āwo, āwa, ā, ō, Middle Dutch ie, German je), from *aiwaz (“age; law”) (compare Old English ǣ(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time”) (compare Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ
• IPA^(key): /aɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: ay, eye, I

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

1. (archaic) ever, always
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     […] Do that good miſcheefe, which may make this Iſland / Thine owne for euer, and I thy Caliban, / For aye thy foot-licker.

   • 1834, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":

     The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.

   • 1863, Translation by Catherine Winkworth:

     Let the Amen sound from His people again; Gladly for aye we adore Him. (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty)

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:aye.

Etymology 2

Probably from use of aye as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. More at oh, yea.

Alternative forms

• ay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: ay, eye, I

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.

Usage notes

• It is much used in Scotland, the north and Midlands of England, the northern counties of Ireland, North Wales, as well as in Australia and New Zealand (where it may follow rather than precede a statement). Also notably seen in viva voce voting in legislative bodies, etc., or in nautical contexts.

Synonyms

• yes
• yea

Antonyms

• nay
• no

Translations

yes

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 唉 (zh) (āi), 对，没错

• Finnish: jaa (fi), kyllä (fi)
• French: oui (fr)
• German: jawohl (de)
• Greek: ναι (el) (nai)
• Hungarian: igen (hu)
• Interlingue:
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: aidhe
• Neapolitan: sine
• Persian: بله (fa)
• Russian: есть (ru) (jestʹ)
• Spanish: sí (es), sé (es)
• Turkish: evet (tr)
• Welsh: ie

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN

Noun

aye (plural ayes)

1. An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.

   "To call for the ayes and nays;" "The ayes have it."

Synonyms

• yes

Translations

affirmative vote

• Finnish: jaa-ääni (fi)
• Spanish: sí (es) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Turkish: evet (tr)

Anagrams

• yae, yea

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Indonesian

Pronoun

aye

1. (Jakarta, slang) First-person singular pronoun: I, me, my

Synonyms

Other pronouns with the same meaning used in Jakarta:

• gue, ogut

Other pronouns with the same meaning used elsewhere:

• aku (informal)
• ku
• daku (poetic)
• saya (formal)
• gua, gw (Java)
• hamba

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Middle English

Noun

aye (plural ayer or ayren)

1. Alternative form of ei

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Scots

Etymology

From Old Norse ei, ey, cognate with Old English ā. See the etymology for the English word above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪ/

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

1. always, still

   A'll aye be wi ye an A'm nae carin whit thay say – I will always/ still be with you and I don't care what they say

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question